Aiken County's vaccinated students don't have to quarantine if asymptomatic

Sep. 6—Vaccinated students have different procedures than unvaccinated students when it comes to quarantine procedures.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, people who are fully vaccinated do not need to quarantine after contact with someone who had COVID-19 unless they have symptoms.

The CDC recommends anyone who is fully vaccinated to get tested three to five days after being exposed to a positive case, even if no symptoms are shown.

Aiken County School Superintendent King Laurence continues to encourage anyone eligible for the vaccine to get vaccinated and students and staff to wear their masks. Students aged 12 and older are eligible for the vaccine.

According to the Aiken County Public School District's website, students identified as a close contact to a COVID-19 case must complete a standard 14-day quarantine period, which begins at the time of last exposure to the positive case.

In order to increase protection from the delta variant and to prevent possibly spreading it to others, the CDC recommends getting vaccinated as soon as possible and wearing a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.

Dr. John Bradley, the school board's chairman, has called a special board meeting to be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday. He called the meeting after hearing about two student deaths, including a fourth grader who had COVID-19.

Last week's COVID-19 statistics showed a total of more than 4,000 students quarantined, 298 positive face-to-face student cases and 43 positive employee cases. The reporting period was from Aug. 22 through Aug. 28.

Aiken County School Board meetings are open to the public; however, there will be no public participation scheduled for this special meeting, according to the district. Seating in the room will be socially distanced, and attendees are highly encouraged to wear masks or face coverings.

___

(c)2021 the Aiken Standard (Aiken, S.C.)

Visit the Aiken Standard (Aiken, S.C.) at www.aikenstandard.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.